How Does Apple Maintain Its Stranglehold On The Best Cellphone Cameras?

[shanghaichica]

In Daylight, the S5 is a great performer, the issues begin to arise in indoor conditions where there is artificial lighting.

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I've been able to get good pictures indoors where there is sufficient light. It's never disappointed me.

However we all have different standarda/needs/desires.

Posted from my S5

 

[colyn1353]

I don't really take a lot of low light photos but I've never had to mess around with the settings to get a good picture. I've been pleased with all the pictures I've taken with my S5. It's never let me down yet.

Posted from my S5

Truth be known a lot of people including myself agree with you..

There is no best for everybody but many agree the S5 has one of the best camera/phones on the market..

I enlarged a S5 low light image today at work to 20x30. I was asked if it was one of my Nikon shots... My iPhone will do the same but I have to do slight editing to get the correct color rendition on enlargement. The iPhone images tend slightly toward magenta with enlargements above 8x10 but no correction is required with the S5.

 

[msavic6]

Truth be known a lot of people including myself agree with you..

There is no best for everybody but many agree the S5 has one of the best camera/phones on the market..

I enlarged a S5 low light image today at work to 20x30. I was asked if it was one of my Nikon shots... My iPhone will do the same but I have to do slight editing to get the correct color rendition on enlargement. The iPhone images tend slightly toward magenta with enlargements above 8x10 but no correction is required with the S5.

Could you upload that image to Flickr or another site that doesn't reduce quality? I would love to see the quality of the shot, I find noise tends to creep in on the shot often leading to unnatural skin tones and blotches on subjects.

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[OceanView]

The only thing the iPhone 6 camera is better at is the faster shutter response.
I do love how fast I can take photos with it. Other than that I haven't had the time to compare images with my Samsung's but I only use my phone camera for just snap shots any ways so no biggie.

 

[colyn1353]

Could you upload that image to Flickr or another site that doesn't reduce quality? I would love to see the quality of the shot, I find noise tends to creep in on the shot often leading to unnatural skin tones and blotches on subjects.

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I have large image viewing and download blocked for everybody except myself on my Flickr page. I've had too many images stolen..

If you are referring to the image I printed today, there is none of the above plus no person is visible in the image for skin tone checks.

If you know what you are doing, you can pretty much create outstanding images with just about any camera whether it be film or digital and since I have shot film for nearly 50 years as well as digital since the days of 640x480 digital backs for the Nikon F and F2 both professionally and as a hobbiest I have extensive experience in this area.

One area where most low light images fail is the shooter is handholding the camera. You mount the camera on a tripod and use the selftimer to trip the shutter, it makes all the difference in the world.. A cleaner sharper image...

You harp on the ISOCELL used in the S5. Did you know it is partly modeled after the eye of certain nocturnal creatures? That along with Samsung's Backside Illumination as well as isolating each pixel cell prevents bleeding of stray light to other cells.. This in turns reduces noise and color inaccuracy.. Noise comes from bleeding of stray light in any digital camera. Many DSLR's use simular technology therefore the S5 uses DSLR technology to a certain degree..

If you have the S5 why not run some test images yourself to see.. Any camera/phone should be very capable of producing excellent results you just have to know how to use it to your advantage..

 

[P_Devil]

Out of all of those listed, only three will have an effect on low light image quality.

Joke or not, there are more options with the S5 camera app than with the iPhone 5 camera app. Even with those settings, I'm getting better low light shots with my S5 than my iPhone 5. I know the HTC One M8 has that over current smartphones and that was one reason why I considered getting the M8 over my S5. The low light shots looked better but the M8's daylight pictures were a step back and that's what I take the most.

Either way, the S5 is fine for low light shots though not the best. I still don't think Apple has a "stranglehold" on smartphone cameras (I would say that goes to Microsoft). My comments were also mainly towards black_thorne who said that his iPhone 4S took better photos than his S5 in low light conditions when my experience has been the opposite with my S5 and iPhone 5 which has a better camera than the 4S.

 

[black_thorne]

HDR mode, picture stabilization, selective focus, face detection, ISO settings, burst shots, image size, exposure settings, white balance settings, and various other effects. It's more than what Google offers in their camera app and more than what my iPhone 5 offered.

These are all preset modes, a far cry from custom settings.

Your original post was trying to make the point a person doesn't know how to use their phone camera at night. Other than HDR, there isn't a whole lot that is changing the picture quality on the camera phone in low light.
It doesn't matter how many more options this phone has over others. That isn't the issue. Just because something has more options than another doesn't make it better.

 

[black_thorne]

I think its funny that some people are blinded by their loyalty to their phone that they make banket statements. Like "Im confident the S5 will be better than that product". Your confident? Really? Is your confidence a field tester? How about do some actual comparisons instead of just making statements and thinking, 'theres just no way something might be better than my phone'.

I own the S5, its a great product, but I don't think its the best in all aspects. Its better is some areas compared to other phones, and falls short in others.

 

[colyn1353]

Most people don't know how to use their camera so they will claim it's the best. If you know how to exploit it's features it can be the best for you..
HDR can be adjusted with apps such as Snapseed..

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[shanghaichica]

I think its funny that some people are blinded by their loyalty to their phone that they make banket statements. Like "Im confident the S5 will be better than that product". Your confident? Really? Is your confidence a field tester? How about do some actual comparisons instead of just making statements and thinking, 'theres just no way something might be better than my phone'.

I own the S5, its a great product, but I don't think its the best in all aspects. Its better is some areas compared to other phones, and falls short in others.

I based that statement upon photos I have seen taken in good lighting on the iPhone 6 and 6 plus and I compared them to shots I have taken on the S5. I did not say that I think the S5 will have a better camera in all areas, such as low lighting as the evidence I have seen suggests that it wouldn't be. I'm sorry but I have no intention of buying an iPhone 6 /6+. All I can do is read reviews and then formulate my own opinions based on the information that I have. I do not believe that the S5 is the best in all areas. There are obviously categories where other devices are stronger like low light performance and general fluidity and performance.

Posted from my S5

 

[black_thorne]

I based that statement upon photos I have seen taken in good lighting on the iPhone 6 and 6 plus and I compared them to shots I have taken on the S5. I did not say that I think the S5 will have a better camera in all areas, such as low lighting as the evidence I have seen suggests that it wouldn't be. I'm sorry but I have no intention of buying an iPhone 6 /6+. All I can do is read reviews and then formulate my own opinions based on the information that I have. I do not believe that the S5 is the best in all areas. There are obviously categories where other devices are stronger like low light performance and general fluidity and performance.

Posted from my S5

The thing about online reviews are, you can find someone saying the S5 sucks at this, while someone else says the iphone sucks at the same thing. You need to go out and find out for yourself and not just make empty claims to people that are looking for advice.

For example, yesterday I went down to Best Buy and played around with the iphone 6+. I took multiple photos of the exact same thing with my S5 and the iphone 6+.

The iPhone took a cleaner picture than my S5. The colors in the photo came out more realistic than my S5 and we're sharper. My S5 took a darker picture and changed the real color. When I zoomed in on the image, the iphone was clearer, while the S5 had rougher edges. I could read words in the distance once zoomed in on the iphone that I couldn't read on the S5.

I don't hold an allegiance to either phone. What ever works better, works better.

 

[shanghaichica]

The thing about online reviews are, you can find someone saying the S5 sucks at this, while someone else says the iphone sucks at the same thing. You need to go out and find out for yourself and not just make empty claims to people that are looking for advice.

For example, yesterday I went down to Best Buy and played around with the iphone 6+. I took multiple photos of the exact same thing with my S5 and the iphone 6+.

The iPhone took a cleaner picture than my S5. The colors in the photo came out more realistic than my S5 and we're sharper. My S5 took a darker picture and changed the real color. When I zoomed in on the image, the iphone was clearer, while the S5 had rougher edges. I could read words in the distance once zoomed in on the iphone that I couldn't read on the S5.

I don't hold an allegiance to either phone. What ever works better, works better.

Taking pictures in a store is not how I'd measure the quality of a phones camera. I prefer to take outdoor shots, which I can't do with both phones as I don't have an iPhone 6/6+. Also in the UK, unless you go to the Apple store phones are usually bolted down to a display which would make any comparison invalid, as you can't move the phone about. However at the end of the day it all comes down to personal opinion really. You could show be the shots you took with the S5 and iPhone 6 and I might genuinely believe that the shots are better on the S5 whilst you genuinely believe they are better on the iPhone 6 or vice versa.

At the end of the day I think both phones have good cameras. I've owned the iPhone 5S which had a good camera so the 6 would also be good. The way I see it is that the S5 is better outdoors and the iPhone 6 is better in low light. Overall they are probably about the same but I just prefer the S5 because I take most of my shots outside. If I had children then I'd probably prefer the iPhone because I imagine I'd need/want to take more shots indoors.

Posted from my S5

 

[P_Devil]

The thing about online reviews are, you can find someone saying the S5 sucks at this, while someone else says the iphone sucks at the same thing. You need to go out and find out for yourself and not just make empty claims to people that are looking for advice.

Which is exactly what I have done. I have almost two years worth of pictures from my iPhone 5 and now about 5 months worth of pictures from my S5. Many were taken in similar lighting conditions, some were taken in the same room in the same lighting conditions (i.e. all the lights turned off except a few during a Halloween party) with a year in between. I'm not talking about reading reviews from Cnet that blindly praise anything Apple does and reading a review from an anti-Apple website praising the S5 just because it isn't an iPhone. Nope, I'm talking about years of real world experience.

I also wouldn't count quick shots in a store as real world experience, regardless of which smartphone you thought came out better. That's like trying to judge the audio quality of headphones using their low quality, split source or like judging the picture quality of an HDTV in the store when they are all sourced from a split, compressed image and all are calibrated to be blown way out of proportion.

 

[black_thorne]

Which is exactly what I have done. I have almost two years worth of pictures from my iPhone 5 and now about 5 months worth of pictures from my S5. Many were taken in similar lighting conditions, some were taken in the same room in the same lighting conditions (i.e. all the lights turned off except a few during a Halloween party) with a year in between. I'm not talking about reading reviews from Cnet that blindly praise anything Apple does and reading a review from an anti-Apple website praising the S5 just because it isn't an iPhone. Nope, I'm talking about years of real world experience.

I also wouldn't count quick shots in a store as real world experience, regardless of which smartphone you thought came out better. That's like trying to judge the audio quality of headphones using their low quality, split source or like judging the picture quality of an HDTV in the store when they are all sourced from a split, compressed image and all are calibrated to be blown way out of proportion.

What my point was, don't go by reviews on the interwebs. Go out and check things out in person. Don't just assume something is better because of fan loyalty.

I've never been to a store around here that bolts the phone down so you can't check it out. They're connected to a coiled wire so you can move it around and play with it.

And what does comparing an S5 to an iphone 5 have to do with an iphone 6? Wouldn't that be like comparing an iphone 6 to an S4?

 

[P_Devil]

I've never been to a store around here that bolts the phone down so you can't check it out. They're connected to a coiled wire so you can move it around and play with it.

The artificial lighting conditions in the stores aren't realistic, that's my point. You aren't going to take pictures at home under bright fluorescent lighting that is uniform across your ceiling, you aren't going to take pictures outside under bright fluorescent lighting, etc.

And what does comparing an S5 to an iphone 5 have to do with an iphone 6? Wouldn't that be like comparing an iphone 6 to an S4?

Like I said before, it goes back to your comment saying that your iPhone 4S took better pictures than the S5 in low light conditions while my experience has been the complete opposite with my iPhone 5 and S5.

 

[msavic6]

The artificial lighting conditions in the stores aren't realistic, that's my point. You aren't going to take pictures at home under bright fluorescent lighting that is uniform across your ceiling, you aren't going to take pictures outside under bright fluorescent lighting, etc.

The comparison was done given those conditions, just because you aren't going to take pictures in that kind of situation doesn't mean you can discredit the difference in quality he noticed between the two devices.


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[P_Devil]

The comparison was done given those conditions, just because you aren't going to take pictures in that kind of situation doesn't mean you can discredit the difference in quality he noticed between the two devices.


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But that setup wasn't representative of real world conditions. It would be like me taking 5 or so pictures in my lab under UV lighting (during experimentation) with an HTC One M8 and iPad 2 with the iPad 2 producing better shots and saying that it's better than the M8. It's a very narrow condition in which very few people are going to be taking constant shots under. Besides, again, my comments go back to their original 4S and S5 comparison. I have not messed with an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus so I can't comment on the picture quality of those compared to the S5. That being said, the few photo-centric reviews I have read (which take pictures in all sorts of different conditions with a bunch of the options enabled and disabled) say that the iPhone 6/6 Plus is better in low light conditions, their pictures are a bit more accurate when it comes to color in all lighting conditions, but the S5 has more detail due to the 16MP sensor. Those were reviews where they pulled the photos off of the phones and viewed them on properly calibrated monitors, they weren't relying on the phones' displays as those may or may not be an accurate representation of the image (especially with the S5's color saturation and the iPhone's lack thereof).

 

[black_thorne]

These 2 are a comparison of the 4s and S5. Both taken from the exact same position with the same low lighting and then cropped. I took photos on different settings and picked the best on the S5. ALL AUTO was what created the best imaging in low light on this S5. There isn't any real need to use different settings on the iPhone, so i just used the 1st photo.
These were the outcome. I seriously tried to be a s fair as possible with this. Mind you, this iPhone is 2 generations behind.

You can see one blends the lines and color together to make the image smoother, image is brighter but sacrifices detail and true real world color.

The other holds more detail, harder edges, and truer real world color, but creates a more grainy image.

Look at the power receptacle, phone cord receptacle, cabinet edging, top of dog treat bowl (blue scarf and writing on bowl).

 

[shanghaichica]

Ok. The S5 has a terrible camera. Worst I've ever seen on a smartphone. Samsung should be ashamed of themselves.

Posted from my S5

 

[black_thorne]

Ok. The S5 has a terrible camera. Worst I've ever seen on a smartphone. Samsung should be ashamed of themselves.

Posted from my S5

Now you're getting it